Withering Beauty
by Tasogare Asa
Summary: [AU] Trust is vital when all your life you've been abused by the one person who wanted to adopt you. There were many things that he wanted in life, but a mysterious billionaire who wished to become acquainted with him wasn't one of them. [Luxord x Zexion]
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: KH does not belong to me. Every character used in the compounds of this fanfic © Square Enix and Disney._

_Author's Note: LxZ Valentine's Day AU. Um … Because I'm sick of seeing Demyx/Zexion, (Zexion/Demyx) I write this? Plus, Xigbar is cool because walking upside down throughout a whole battle equals "pretty special," and Luxord has a British accent and really pretty eyes. On that note, enjoy the __'__fic._

**Withering Beauty**

Darkness was his only comfort, the silver-haired teen realized as he edged further into the darkest shadowed corner of his room. His denim-hued eyes saddened as he thought over what his guardian had accused him of, and he realized that he had done nothing wrong. Moonlight partially leaked through his black curtains as he shifted slightly so that he was curled into the smallest ball that he could make. If he were to look at his clenched hands, he would see crimson. A dry laugh escaped his burning throat as he felt fresh blood trickle down his face like sweat, and he thought about his thus far ignored homework that was due in eight hours — Chemistry homework that he would probably never do. Not now, after being yelled at and sent flying across a room full of test tubes and the like for writing an equation down incorrectly. The silver-haired boy let out a half-sigh sugared in a meek whimper. He didn't even get the mixture wrong; it was the equation. Plus, if _he_ knew that Zexion was going to mess up, why did he —

"Zexion?" a soft yet masculine voice called through the door. There was a tap, then a continuation: "It's Vexen. Zexion, it's me. Will you open your door?" Zexion's murky blue eyes slowly raised themselves to the door, but his body made no move to open it. There was a sigh heard from the other side after a few moments, and finally a mutter.

"Don't say I didn't try to help. _Oh,_ Zexion…"

* * *

School always seemed like an iffy topic amongst teenagers. Most never wanted to hear the word uttered from anyone's mouth for fear that it would cause some unearthly terror, while others either came to school for other reasons, or, in some rare cases, to _learn._ Zexion came to school to escape his home life. Home … Home had always been like that. The orphan — a problem child — who liked to beat up his school teachers if they dared to touch him in a way he deemed "inappropriate." Up to the age of thirteen — now almost seventeen — the guardian who wanted everything to go his way … the "older brother" with mustard-brown hair who was probably older than the guardian … the silent brute — who was he anyway? — who acted as if a teenager receiving new scars to tattoo his young body was normal — he was good at experiments; the blue-haired man just didn't want him to surpass him … if he wasn't afraid of the drums or to let people hear his soft voice he would — that strawberry blonde-haired boy's artwork was _way_ better than his, so why? — Yeah, they had silver hair too, but so what, that didn't mean … Just because a person is silent doesn't mean that they're mysterious; sometimes they'd just rather — … 

School would begin in thirty minutes, he realized as he rushed out the front door.

* * *

Leaning against his sea-green locker, Zexion began his daily morning survey of the entrance hallway. He wasn't surprised at what he found, really: hot pink banners decorated with tiny red hearts, little posters advertising the upcoming dread in the pit of his stomach, white slips outlined in pink attached to the bulletin board directly across from him, empty chocolate boxes and empty candy heart boxes hanging cautiously from the ceiling and the really overly joyous chatty things known as teenage girls. Now, the midnight blue-eyed boy would have considered the last bit of information his eyes took in as a threat, but at that moment, his third most despised thing entered the school building. 

"— believe that she actually asked me about it! I mean, I'm a 'goof,' ne? So I shouldn't have been on her 'list of boys to ask' at all, right? But yesterday she did, right in front of all of her gro — ne, Riku, are you listening?" Sapphire blues blinked slowly as they followed the line of vision the other boy's icy aquamarines were headed, to rest upon … glaring stone-black ones.

Sora blinked once more, then sighed. The weird rivalry would begin in five … four … three … two … one — oh, now.

Sora yelped as he felt his wrist being grabbed by his silver-haired friend as he began to quickly lead him down the hallway. As they neared the short-haired, silver-headed teen, they ended up coming to an abrupt stop, challenging lightning-blue orbs meeting with challenging coal-blue irises. Sora didn't like being caught up in the stupidity, but today he had not been lucky enough to escape —

"Sora! Riku-kun! There you are!" a calm female voice called from the opposite side of the hall. Sora let out a sigh of relief as a familiar head of crimson and violent purple eyes came their way. "Ah — Zexion-kun!" she spoke in finality when she reached the trio. Sora eyed the girl in disbelief for a few moments before deciding to speak, knowing full well that the two silver-haired delinquents would not.

"Good morning, Kairi. Alone this Monday morning, I see?" Sora asked, hoping that she wouldn't notice the sound of relief that was evident in his voice.

Kairi let out a small giggle, then said, "Don't get your hopes up, Sora. They'll be over in a minute." At the sound of this, both silver-haired teens stopped silently attempting at killing each other through glaring and turned to face the girl with a look of animosity evident on their faces. Riku's said, "Not today; I like my sanity very much, thank you," while Zexion's said, "Any of you dare to even think about touching me, and you'll wish, wish that you were rotting in that place known as hell." Kairi only smiled deviously at the two boys as the sound of the shuffling of many pairs of feet became evident behind her. Zexion looked away almost immediately, his silver bangs moving to cover his glum expression in one swift movement, and he didn't plan on looking back. Folding his arms across his chest and leaning more onto his locker, he didn't even bother trying to figure out why the girls had come. He didn't need to.

"Kairi! You found them!" A perky girl with short black hair spoke rather cheerfully and rather loudly when they approached. "We've already talked to Kadaj-kun, and he seemed okay with the matter, so I bet … " Zexion stopped listening as he knew that whatever point that had wouldn't be explained for a few more minutes. _They talked to Kadaj, and he seemed okay with it?_ Zexion frowned as he stole a glance at Riku, then briefly gazed at the girls. _I doubt he was okay with whatever they're planning. These girls are the ringleaders of that S.H.G. Society …_ When the older teen decided to listen again, they were finally nearing the end of their babbling.

"… We've got sixteen more days to go! Waa!" a girl with shoulder-length curly brown hair, Selphie, exclaimed with an excited wave of her arms. "Then — then the dance is three more days after! Ooh, I can't wait!" Zexion looked up as soon as she finished, noting now how all four girls were now quiet and very much blushing. Both Riku and Sora seemed to have noticed also, as the older of the two began to speak, putting on a fake smile as he did so.

"Well, ladies. I assume that you wouldn't mind telling us what your darling … minds have been thinking since you've come over here, hmm?" This caused three out of the four of them to start giggling as Riku pushed a long white strand from in front of his pale green eyes while Zexion rolled his eyes.

"Well, Riku-kun, Zexion-kun," a girl with jade green pearls and thin hair pulled up in a flailing ponytail with four blonde braids scattered and tangled about began, "as I'm quite, quite sure you two silver-haired gods know already —"

There was a yell of "Rikku!" from Kairi when she said this, but Rikku ignored her completely and continued unfazed:

"— the Valentine's Day Dance is coming up. Seeing that VD is on Wednesday, we'll be holding the dance Friday. But you know all this already, and if you didn't, then I'd be —"

"Please, just get to your point," Zexion hissed suddenly, causing half of the girls to gasp at him actually speaking. This seemed to catch Rikku's attention also, but only for a moment.

"Well now, like I was saying, we thought it'd be best if the leaders of the S.H.G. Society themselves informed you of the VD H-Poll." Rikku explained with a mischievous grin. _VD what?_ Zexion thought bitterly, as he did not like how that abbreviated — something — sounded.

"The Valentine's Day Hottie Poll!" the perky black haired girl said with a swish of her hands.

"And the Great Ninja Yuffie — myself — was the one who personally informed everyone of it." Yuffie said this in a half sing-song voice that made all three males cringe.

"Being President of the S.H.G.S., I thought it'd be best that you knew that you will _not_ need a date for the dance because the three females that win the poll will be your dates," Kairi spoke in a tone that hinted at a few other things.

"Oh, hell no."

Zexion noticed for once that it was probably the first time that he sympathized with Riku and that they were actually agreeing on something as both boys spoke those three words in defiant tones. The next sixteen or so days were going to be murderous for them.

Long school days were not something the frosty blue-haired boy cherished, or liked for that matter. Especially if throughout the whole school day rabid fan girls that he did not ask for exclaimed and proclaimed how they were going to be his Valentine's Day Dance date. When the last bell of the day rang loudly in his and everyone's ears, he was actually for once very happy. Grabbing what little books he actually brought home quickly, Zexion hurriedly rushed past the hordes of bodies and out the school doors.

Pulling his many-belted, black cloak tightly around himself as he entered the cold streets, he thought about home for a fleeting moment and decided that that option was a place that he did not wish to return to just yet. Short silver hair rustling in the wind, he slowly pulled up his left sleeve a little to reveal two watches, a roman numeral one and a digital one. He glanced at the digital, not wanting to attempt reading Vs and Xs at the moment, to see that it was almost three o'clock, meaning that he had roughly four hours to roam the busy island city streets. But Zexion was not in the mood for roaming, and he knew exactly where his feet trod.

But before he could even turn into the direction of the store he was planning on lounging around in, a soft buzz was heard muffled from his inside coat pocket, followed by the blaring of guitars mingled with drums and the indescribable _Engrish_ of a very violent (to himself) and slightly bipolar Japanese rock singer who happened to be probably vaguely screaming, "dying a child" at the moment.¹ Not that it sounded like that, anyway.

"Speak, or I hang up," Zexion said dryly as he slipped open his black Motorola camera phone and spoke into the receiver.

"Heya, Sexy Zexy!" an overly hyperactive male voice practically shouted in his ear. "It's Axel, and I'm sure you've got me memorized by now." Zexion sighed as he knew where this conversation was heading. Axel liked to ramble. "Have anything planned for this lovely icy-you-know-it's-freezing-like-hell-out-here afternoon? Demyx, Roxas, and I are probably planning on going to the arcade with Sora and his boyfriend! And 'we' were wondering if you'd like to join us. I mean, I know for a fact that you're not about to head straight home unless you have a death wish, and, besides, I was gonna ask you at the end of the school day, but you dashed off before I could catch ya. So … are you going to 'ac-comp-pany' us?" Zexion surprisingly patiently waited until Axel was done babbling before giving him a one-syllable answer —

"No."

— compared to Axel's hour-long ramble.

"Aw, Zexy, why not?" Axel whined rather loudly, causing Zexion to pull the phone away from his fragile ear.

"Because," Zexion merely responded as he continued his walk, deciding then that by the time Axel would finally be finished trying to convince him to hang out with them, he'd be at his destination. "Please, Zex-i-on. You'll like it, and besides, Saïx doesn't mind you hanging out with meeee," Axel tried, stressing the word "me" and hoping that it would convince the younger boy. It didn't.

"I already have plans for today, Axel. Thank you for the offer, though. Have fun with your boyfriend and his friends," Zexion replied in a semi-light tone that was definitely sarcastic, deciding that their phone conversation was finished.

"Wha — ah, Zexion! Wait, they're your friends too, y —" _Click._

_Hmph.__Me._ _Friends._

Almost-black eyes wavered as he shut the phone and stuffed it back into the hidden pocket in his cloak. Axel could be persistent and long-winded sometimes, and he usually did persuade him into doing things. Axel understood him, and that was why he let the redhead bother him constantly. But not today. Today he felt like being left alone to ponder some things he had been thinking about lately. Today he was going to be at …

* * *

_Kin-kon-kan!_

The small golden bell jingled happily as the young teen slowly entered the bookstore and glanced around to see if he'd be allowing his presence in it on the cold Monday afternoon. His mood lightened inwardly as he noticed that the place was not overcrowded and that only a few customers were present, some walking around the shelves searching for a good read while the others were sitting at small tables in the café, quietly murmuring to each other no doubt about the upcoming holiday. Up at the counter two employees were looking straight at him, two females he recognized immediately. Before he had entered, the crimson-haired female had been listening intently to the ebony-haired girl talk animatedly about something or the other that had happened during the school day. Now two pairs of eyes, both violet, were watching the newest customer sit down quickly at a manila table near the door and glance down at a black and gold pocket watch to check the time. Three fifteen.

Now, as said, earlier, upon hearing and seeing the new patron enter the cosy bookstore, the two girls had stopped their chirping one-sided conversation and looked to greet their latest person to serve. Seeing who it was, the black-haired worker gave a small squeal of delight and practically hopped over the counter to greet him with a welcoming grin that spoke of the holiday of love and other things without even opening her mouth. Without even blinking or thinking about the fact that she worked in a bookstore and she was supposed to speak in a quiet manner, she chirped loudly across the store, "Hiya, welcome to the Emerald Blues and Crimson Jazz Bookstore and Café! Name's the 'Great Ninja' Yuffie, butyoualreadyknowthat, and if you need any help finding a book, come see me, or, if you'd like to order something _refreshing,_ I'll be with ya in a sec!"

He didn't pay them much mind anymore as he began to pick at the sugar packets and make a puzzle out of them on the manila table top.

"— and then Naminé and Marlene both had the nerve to tell me that I didn't have a chance at winning one of them for the dance. I mean, c'mon, even I know that I have a better chance than _Naminé._"

By now Yuffie had made her way over to Zexion's table and was now beaming a wide smile at him, having now finished her gossip. Zexion was unfazed by it, having seen it normally at New Dawn throughout the whole school year, and barely gazed notice to her setting down a menu in front of him.

The silver-haired teen didn't even touch the menu, as he spoke in a low tone, "Do you have slushies, and if you do, do you sell the ones that have crushed pieces of fruit in them? Or, are those called smoothies?"

Yuffie held a blank expression on her face for a moment, probably surprised that the ever-so-silent-boy had spoken more than one sentence or word but immediately her smile returned as she gave a vigorous nod. "Yup, yup. We here at the Emerald Blues Café are known for the only place that not only puts chopped fruit in their smoothies, but also in the slushies! What flavour would you like? We have orange, pineapple, grape, grapefruit, pear, apple, raspberry, straw —"

"Strawberry, if you wouldn't mind."

"Al — all right." Yuffie stuttered, but, continuing with an ever-present grin, "Would you like anything to eat with that? We have chocolate chip cookies, toast, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, croissants, subs, melts, grilled cheese, pie, cake — lots of bready things. Anyway, any food you like in particular, we probably have it back there."

Zexion eyed the girl with a bored look for a moment as he watched her smile fade just a little, but did not disappear. Sighing, he replied, "I'm fine right now, thank you. I'll probably go look for some books, then order something later." He paused as he lifted his right sleeve to reveal a dotted watch and a normal one. Three thirty. "I'll be here for a while." There was a partially awkward silence between them as Zexion pulled his sleeve back down and returned to playing with the sugar packets while a quiet jazz played overhead. Yuffie wished she had a camera at that moment so she could snap a picture of the infamous Zexion Ienzo playing with sugar packets to show her annoying friends. But she didn't, so instead she gave a nod, then went to go make his order.

Twenty minutes later, Zexion was done with his slush and was skimming through the millions of books in the store. He had already found two of the books he had been wanting, and now he was looking for crosswords, as he knew where the last book he planned to purchase was. Finally, his darkest blue eyes caught the word _deluxe_, and it was in his hands in a second. "Now, over to the kiddie horror stories …" he muttered to himself as he looked for the author _Brian Jacques_ and found him. Picking up the black book with red-etched writing² that he had been wanting for some weeks now, he spun towards the cash register quickly and began to make his way over to it in a rush, which caused him to run face-forward into someone, all four books dropping in the process and the other's one book also.

An immediate apology formed on Zexion's lips as he bent down to pick up the fallen articles, only to have his hand and the hand of the person he had run into grab for the same one. Another apology was springing from his mouth as he withdrew his hand and looked up to see icy teal pools staring back at him, causing him to falter and fall fully down onto the ground. Blinking, Zexion had about a second to notice the short platinum-blonde hair and the three earrings in his left ear with three meeting ones in his right and one more peculiar one, and his cream colour skin — meaning he most definitely was not from the large island city — before the man gave him a somewhat unnerving smile.

"I'm sorry," he spoke first in a heavy accent, "I didn't see you there, _kid._" Zexion watched as he finished picking up their books and handed his back to him, but not before glancing at the titles.

"It — it was my fault," Zexion stuttered as he got to his feet and headed to the cash register before the man could say something else.

Unfortunately, his clerk happened to be Kairi, who decided it would be a splendid idea to try striking up a conversation with him. Zexion ignored her as she handed him his purchased books, and he turned to leave.

But as he reached the door, he glanced back, to see blue-tinted green eyes staring back at his black-tinted blue eyes …

… only for a moment.

**To be continued**

¹ Child prey © Dir en grey (Oh, how I love Kyô's Engrish).  
² _Ribbajack_ © Brian Jacques

_Tasogare__ Asa: OKAY! Chapter one finished. It might be boring and/or confusing I know, but this is yaoi. …with lots of random side yaoi pairings. Also, I forgot to mention, a few of the Advent Children characters make guest appearances in this 'fic like Marlene and Kadaj, for example. They don't have really big parts, so don't worry about them that much. If you like where this story is heading, please review. Constructive criticism is welcomed, but no flames, please. And I hope I did not offend anyone about the Demyx/Zexion._


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: KH does not belong to me. Every character used in the compounds if this fanfic © Square Enix and Disney._

_Author's Note: I hate the format thing. It completely kills my style of writing. You see, I use certain symbols for certain things, but they can't be read on Why, I don't know. Also, thank you, my friend and beta, Shadowed Reflections, for putting up with me and my grammatical errors. Oh, and THANK YOU all for the reviews!_

**Withering Beauty**

New Dawn High School was in a frenzy of balloons and paper maché pink and red hearts the next day when the silent teen entered. It sickened Zexion to the extent that, if he had eaten any breakfast, he would have vomited it back up due to the circumstances.

Zexion rested his head against his arms as he stared out the window of his classroom. Even though the class was his second favourite class, his first being science, he did not look forward to his stern maths teacher droning on about square roots, of properties of equality, and calculating pi first thing in the morning. The silver-haired man hadn't actually begun teaching yet as he glared at his pupils through slitted green eyes as he patiently waited for them to quiet down. The loud rumbles of voices went to a quiet simmer until finally dying out as the teacher cleared his throat.

"What is 'deductive reasoning,' I wonder?" Sephiroth asked the class as he began to pace the room, eyeing each and every one of them. "You — _children_ — seem to not know the difference between the 'Law of Detachment' and the 'Law of Syllogism' because _every_ last one of you is _failing_ at the moment." He paused his walk and turned his unnerving gaze to Zexion, and the overly bored boy could have sworn that he saw a glint of amusement in the man's green eyes. "Except … Mr. Ienzo here, who seems to be passing the class with one hundred percent." The force said in the "one hundred" was almost unbearable, as Sephiroth's next words were even harsher. "Seeing that you _dimwits_ seemed to not understand, deductive reasoning is the process of using a general rule to make a specific conclusion. In other words for you simple-minded people, from specific proven laws, rules, or theorems, we can deduce certain truths.

"With that in mind, you have a pop quiz to begin. Now."

_Yep, it's going to be a long day__ …_

* * *

Science class was uneventful, as all they did was listen to Ansem ramble for the first half and watch him blow up things in the beakers for the second half. Really, the dark-skinned scientist could only concentrate if he spent his morning pestering and badgering a certain easy-to-agitate, silver-haired maths teacher. There were rumours going around about Ansem having a crush on the cold-mannered man, but alas, there was no proof. Besides, the two seemed more like they'd rather survive in category five hurricane than be seen outside of school with each other. Well, at least in Sephiroth's case. 

BOOM!

A cloud of smoke washed over the science classroom as whatever Ansem had just inaccurately mixed backfired, bringing the silver-blue haired boy from his wandering thoughts as startled screams filled the room.

_Well__ … Social Studies will be short today_, thought Zexion as he and the rest of his class evacuated the room as the fire alarms blared through their ears.

* * *

Zexion really didn't _like_ girls, he realized as he sat down at an empty lunch table outside in the commons. They were just _there_. This might be because of how his so-called "friends" were, he thought half-bitterly as a wave of wild fire-coloured hair fell down upon him and the body that came along with it. Thank God Axel wasn't carrying a lunch tray. 

"Trying to hide from us, Zexy?" Axel teased, his arms draped over the younger teen's shoulders. Zexion sighed and rolled his eyes up at the madman. "No. I'm trying to eat lunch," Zexion replied as he pushed Axel away.

"You hate school lunch, though," Roxas interjected as he approached the duo, followed by Demyx, Sora, and … Riku.

Zexion frowned at the other white-haired teen but answered Roxas's question nonetheless.

"I'm probably not going to be able to eat anything after school, knowing you guys." Axel perked up at this and stood back up, having only sat down a second ago.

"So you _are_ going to hang out with us today!" Axel asked as a happy grin spread on his face. Zexion mentally cringed as he physically nodded. "Yay!" And before he could defend himself, a blur of red was on him once again.

Now, being attacked by Axel, and sometimes — rarely — Demyx, was a normal occurrence to Zexion, and all the fan girls (and _normal_ students) noticed that Axel (and sometimes Demyx) was the only member of — well, the world — that Zexion would have any physical contact with. And because the fan girls are _fan girls_, they had many pictures of those rare moments, most of which happened at lunch, for that was when Zexion's guard wasn't full, and they chose to strike then. But the white-haired boy didn't understand the S.H.G.S. (_Silver Haired Gods Society_) that much. They weren't your typical rabid fan girls that wanted to kidnap their object(s) of obsession, no — just … obsessive; obsessive girls who all wanted to date either Riku, Kadaj, or … himself. So, after the girls noticed their similar goals, they all banded together.

Typical.

But the strange thing about it was …

That Riku, S.H.G. Candidate #01, announced in December that he was dating his childhood best friend, Sora. The news surprised Zexion, but it did not even _faze_ the fan girls. In fact, it _somehow_ made them even more obsessive. Zexion shuddered.

Thinking back on what he had thought earlier, he really _didn't_ like _females_, and it was most likely all his "friends'" fault. Since the beginning of time, Axel and Roxas had been dating, and Demyx had some super-rich boyfriend who was older and worked at the No Heart Corporation — a very famous building that was about twenty-two stories high.

Then there was the last of the S.H.G., Kadaj.

Rumour had it that he was dating one of the teachers, male of course. But it was just a rumour, for if it was true and the higher-up people found out about it, the teacher would most likely lose his job as a teacher. Kadaj didn't deny or agree with the rumour, but he did admit to having a boyfriend in late January.

So why did the girls obsess over the three white-haired boys even when two out of the three of them were obviously gay, and the other just _really_ did not care? About life. About anything.

Zexion frowned once again at the information he had just run through in his head as he looked down at the sludge that was apparently supposed to be _stuffed shells_ and his lunch.

He was going to die a hungry child today.

"So, Demyx, you're coming too, right?" the strawberry blond-haired boy leaning against a content looking Axel asked, while taking a sip of his chocolate milk. For the reaction of Roxas' question, however, Demyx looked up from his own milk, strawberry in flavour, and stammered a reply.

"Uh — No. Uh — um, I'll be heading up to N.H.C. to s-see … _you know _…" he declined as a blush emitted across his cheeks.

"Y'know, Demyx, you practically _live_ with him," Axel spoke up suddenly in a teasing manner. "So I don't see why you can't hang out with us, your buds. Or … do you two have '_plans_' tonight?" "Plans" was said in such a lewd — but calm — way that Roxas began to choke on his chocolate milk as he bit back a blush, causing Axel to panic. Luckily for Demyx, the question was soon forgotten as Axel began to rub the boy's back, and Sora asked in an equally panicked tone if he was OK. Zexion sighed as he wondered once again why he hung out with such _idiots_.

* * *

The bell ringing to let students know that they were now officially tardy rang throughout the school as Zexion slowly entered his English classroom. Sitting down at his desk in the far corner of the room, he opened his English book and flipped to the page number written on the board. The assignment was to read several pieces of poetry, then write a short essay on the one they thought held the most meaning. Simple enough, most would think, if not for who was teaching the class. Vincent Valentine was _very_ picky about how one worded things, so one had to make sure that their writing was up to par with their age and _not_ resembling a ten-year-old's. 

The thought of Kadaj dating one of the teachers re-entered Zexion's mind as he began to read a poem titled "Butterfly," and he frowned. The rumoured teacher didn't seem like the type to date anyone or anything, especially such a loud-mouthed kid like Kadaj … who was late, Zexion noticed.

… And currently bustling through the door as soon as the thought passed from the white-haired teen's mind. Giving Vincent a sheepish grin, Kadaj handed him a small piece of paper, most likely a late pass, and tried to discreetly hand him some _other_ paper, which Zexion noticed had been folded very carefully and very fancily. Vincent showed a small indication of a frown on his lips as the boy held it out to him but accepted the paper anyway, sliding it into a pants pocket. A small smirk came to Zexion's face as that small action gave him some insight on the rumours, and he wondered if anyone else had noticed. But that could wait until later, Zexion thought, as he went back to reading the assigned poetry.

* * *

Coach Leonhart wasn't exactly the best person to have as a gym teacher when it came to a very hyperactive horror that went by the name of Axel. 

Not even his infamous death glare worked on the redhead as he laughed inanely while climbing the bleachers to retrieve their missing soccer ball. Indoor soccer was apparently not a good choice of game to play when housing Axel, Sora, Demyx, Rikku, Yuffie and Selphie. Zexion was currently sitting on the sidelines, refusing to participate while he watched Rikku, Selphie, and Yuffie tackle an unguarded Demyx for the soccer ball.

_Interesting__ …_

Demyx let out a very unmanly yelp as the ball was grabbed from underneath his feet and thrown towards the opposing team. It was boys versus girls, no one was playing soccer correctly, and no one intended to ever do so.

Typical.

The wondrous thing about it was that their coach wasn't doing anything to stop them.

* * *

After the rash and violent battle of indoor soccer was finished, all game participants were very exhausted as they left the battlefield and went into the locker rooms. Zexion was the first to finish dressing, having not participated in the war. On his way out of the locker room, though, he was attacked by a mass of black clothing and fiery red hair that came out of nowhere and pounced upon him. It took Zexion a moment to process what had happened, and once he realized that the "mass" had happened to have been Axel, he struggled to free himself. 

"Aw, Zexy, you don't love me any more?" Axel joked as he let go of the now irate teen after he had growled a very unpleasant "_Gerroff_!". Zexion scowled at the older teen as he felt very inclined to answer.

"Axel …"

"Now, now, Zexion! I know that deep down in the bottom of your itty-bitty heart that you —" Axel was thankfully cut off from whatever ridiculous comment he was spouting as the bell rang overhead, letting everyone know that they had five minutes to get to their next class. So Zexion brushed Axel off like dust and went off to music while Axel was off, after a disappointed pout, to art.

Cloud Strife should not, let me repeat, should _not_, be a teacher of anything, let alone music. Zexion noted this as the spiky-haired blonde attempted to explain the difference between a dotted quarter note and a clef but failed miserably and soon gave up with a sigh of defeat. "Teach yourselves …" he mumbled as he flopped down into his chair at his desk and rubbed his temples irritably. "Why do I have to do _this_ job? Squall is much more suited for this … Maybe he and I should switch teaching careers …" Zexion smirked as the blonde began to quietly start talking to himself, all the while twirling around a tiger pendant in his fingers. Zexion blinked as he realized that he had seen a very _similar_ pendant to it somewhere …

The final bell of the day rang loudly through the hallways of the school as Zexion quickly packed his stuff so he could hurry out before any more spotted him, remembering the plans that he had with the others. But as he rounded towards the entrance hallway and opened the front door, an unmistakable voice called his name.

Still believing that he could escape, the antisocial teen swung open the door and made his way down the school's steps. Sighing, he started towards the front gates, now running over in his mind where he intended to go when he would reach town, which —

He was mauled by his ever-so-persistent personal attacker known by the normal people of the world as Axel. But this time, to Zexion's dismay, he had more than one attacker; a wave of choppy dirty-blonde was something he was able to glimpse briefly before he and Axel fell down in an ungraceful heap, followed closely behind by the third _person_. Groaning, Zexion blinked and cocked his head to the side to see that his second assassin had happened to be Demyx.

"Zexy tried to run away! Zexy no fun! Zexy no fun!" both Axel and Demyx chanted as they pinned the white-blue haired teen to the cold pavement.

By now a lot of the other students who had been exiting the school building had turned towards the trio and raised a few eyebrows or stopped in their tracks with curious expressions on their faces.

Part of the group that had stopped happened to be the ringleaders of the S.H.G.S.: Kairi, Yuffie, Rikku and Selphie, who all gave soft gasps at the sight of a dog-piled Zexion. And the dark blue-eyed boy was not enjoying the current situation as he struggled to free himself from the two slightly stronger boys.

_It's going to be a long afternoon__ …_

* * *

"So … Zexxxxion," Axel said in an overly happy tone near the tormented boy's ear, "Gonna call Mr. Boss-sy to make sure that you can hang late?" Axel asked as he slipped a gloved hand into Roxas' and pulled him close, causing the younger to blush madly. 

"I'd … rather go home at curfew, thank you," Zexion muttered as his black eyes met Axel's green ones as he briskly walked a few steps ahead of him. Riku, who was practically being dragged by Sora, gave a snort.

"Don't you ever break rules, pretty boy?" he sneered as Zexion shot him a glare.

"This is coming from someone whose hair goes halfway down his back?" Zexion shot back.

"At least people can see _both_ my eyes. Are you missing one or something?" Zexion felt his brow twitch at this remark.

"Y'know, at least I have some taste in some type of a wardrobe," Zexion began, "unlike you, _golden boy,_" he finished as he looked Riku's outfit up and down, which consisted of some really bright yellow, honey yellow and dark blue.

"This coming from a boy who looks like he's ready to jump off a bridge and kill himself, or, more painfully, run in front of a moving truck?" Riku finished with a triumphant smirk. The words hit a chord in Zexion's chest as he shot Riku a very frightening look.

"Listen, you snotty little bas —"

Zexion's eyes went alarmingly wide at the sound of his cell phone singing/shouting a tune that normally would not sound ominous if it had not been for who it was set for. Swallowing hard, he fished his phone from out of his inside coat pocket and stared at it, stopping his walk in the process.

Axel stopped also, which brought Roxas to a stop, and the two other boys. Lifting his emerald eyes to meet Zexion's slightly shocked ones, he said with a straight face, "Dude … you really need to lay off the heavy metal psycho Japanese rock singers," and as an afterthought, "Is that 朔_-saku-_?" Zexion ignored the comment about his taste in music as he eyed the phone warily, not opening it.

"He called, actually called …"

All eyes were on Zexion as he began to tremble slightly, flipping open the Motorola phone, cutting the phone's song off abruptly. But he kept the black phone held out in front of him, not uttering a single word. Somehow, Axel took this as a hint of _something_ and briskly grabbed the phone then began talking.

"Why _helloooo,_ Saïx," Axel started in his overly joyous voice, "How are you today?" Zexion glared at the boy, as he knew his "convincing tactics" by now. And so did Saïx. "Pardon? Oh no, your delightful '_son_' is right here, safe and sound. Wha — ? Oh no — er … _walking._ We _were_ walking, but now we're standing still, and — what? NO! Um … because he loves me?" Zexion's glare became more intolerable at Axel's last remark. Oh, how he wished that he could hear what his guardian was saying. "I'm really kidding, Saïx, geez! Huh? … Oh. Homework is A-okay. And I'm — no. No, no… no. For Pete's sa — NO. Saïx, I was only joking. Zex is — … brotherly fashion, but that's not the point — not here. He's visiting _someone_ at the moment. But if you'd like, I'll call — Roxas is _no_ part of this conversation, and I _mean it_." Now at the tone of those last two words, Zexion and the others all wished that they could hear what the other speaker was saying on the other end because Axel wasn't kidding around any more. He didn't joke when it involved Roxas. "Hmm … Okay. Good bye, and congrats to you, Saïx." The black cell phone came to a close as the redhead let out a loud sigh. Flashing a grin quickly after, though, Axel then gave them all a thumbs up then continued walking, but not before taking Roxas' hand into his again and whispering something in his ear and giving him a light kiss on the cheek.

Going to a place infested with snot-nosed brats who constantly tugged at their parents' sleeves for _this_ and for _that_ was definitely not on Zexion's "fun things to do" list, but after ten minutes of both Axel and Sora persisting and a flash of Sora's irrecusable pout, the other three just gave in and let the two childish ones have their way and raid the toy store.

_A pink bunny, a Mickey Mouse, a green snake with enormous yellow eyes, some half-cat half-rabbit thing, a life-sized doll, a smaller doll with freckles next to it that was missing half of its clothes, a __pikachu, something that vaguely resembled a dinosaur, the Coca Cola bear, jacks, hula hoops, play dish sets, a Barbie, an Easy Bake oven …_

Zexion groaned as he eyed all if the ridiculous kiddie things with disgust, but Axel, Sora and even Roxas took interest in everything they passed for at least a moment. Zexion and Riku were currently some few feet, give or take, behind the other three as Axel sped up and down the aisles with a shopping cart currently housing both Sora and Roxas who were having the time of their lives. Zexion didn't want to try and even understand how both boys had fit in the cart, nor did he wish to understand how three teenagers could have so much fun in a toy store.

"Conductor Axel, to the _manly_ toys, now!" Sora shouted while giggling very suddenly as Axel made a sharp left at the command.

Riku and Zexion slowly followed behind, Riku shaking his head at Sora's way of words and Zexion rolling his eyes.

_Legos, light sabers, action figures, G.I. Joes, toy spiders, monkey-in-a-barrel, slinkies, chalk, Gundam, cars, toy bikes, Hot Wheels, Tech Deck Dude, skateboards, Bob the Builder, fishing poles, toy motorcycles, Ba__ … Barbie?_

Zexion's deep blue eyes blinked at the layout as he and Riku both leaned against a nearby wall and watched as Axel sped up and down the aisles with the cart while the twins shouted and pointed with "ooh"s and "ah"s at about every _manly_ toy in sight. Including Barbie.

"I honestly don't understand how you can deal with him," Zexion said to the other silver-haired teen as he watched the trio. Riku didn't fully take the bait, though.

"He's been my friend since I could walk, and he hasn't changed, even though he's now my boyfriend.

"… I honestly think it's cute. He's fine just the way he is. Adorable really, but at the same time, too, too much energy." Zexion nodded as they watched Axel run into a shelf, prompting a wave of both boxed and un-boxed light sabers to fall down into the cart and onto both Roxas and Sora.

"And you love him?" Zexion asked nonchalantly, while Axel was now being yelled at by one of the workers for reckless cart driving/steering.

"Yes, but …" There was a pause as aquamarine eyes looked up at awaiting denim-blue eyes. "Why? You thinking about getting yourself 'one?'" Zexion didn't get to find out what that "one" was supposed to be, though, for as soon as he opened his mouth to reply, Axel came dashing towards them with a pair of squealing brunets.

"INCOMING!"

Both Zexion and Riku had about two seconds to move before the cart and the boys came crashing into where they had been casually standing.

"That was fun!"

"Axel, do it again!"

Axel then thanked them both for their love of his reckless tactics as he hopped down from the bottom rail and took a deep bow. "Now where would you two lovely brunets like to go next?" he asked in a suave voice as he straightened back up.

"To the —" Roxas began.

"— video games!" Sora finished, thrusting his fist up into the air.

"And look at this, Riku," Sora spoke in a cheery tone as he pulled something from behind him in the cart and held it out to his friend, "I got a _Kaiser Lemon_ while Roxas bought a _Lightning Saix,_ and … and Axel has _Shining Gundam_." The cinnamon brown-haired boy held up each box as he said the toy's name. "Cool, huh? Cool?" Riku regarded the toys with a nod, then glanced over at Zexion with a curious expression, who wasn't paying the sapphire eyed boy any mind. When it came to favourite toys, he was geared more towards _Transformers_ and _Megam — _

"Wah! Yay, video games!" Zexion watched with disbelief as Axel gave a large push and practically jumped onto the cart as it rolled into the branched-off gaming section.

_Tetris, War, Pac-man, karaoke, Metal Gear Solid, some THING, monsters, hedgehogs, war, pocket monsters, Xenosaga, pink puffball, World of Warcraft, Bomberman, many movie-made-games, Guitar Hero, monkeys, Mortal Kombat, mystic warriors, elves, war, digital monsters, Dance Dance Revolution, puppies, eggs, 007, Bible Game, The Legend of Zelda, ninjas, Street Fighter, dinosaurs, Monster Rancher, dragons, Soul Cal__ — ah._

Zexion's gloved hand immediately reached out towards the small blue and white cover and turned to the back to read about the game play. He _really_ needed to get a new obsession, he realized, as he turned from the shelf after deciding that he would buy the game. Especially if he was now resulting to digital versions of his new favourite pastime hobby. Sighing, he decided he should look for the others, peering around for vibrant red hair. He would try to find Axel first, he decided, as he started walking towards where the older boy had run to. _I hope my GameBoy still works,_ he thought as he glanced back at the game in his hand. _If not, I won't be able to play this, anyway …_ Zexion felt a glum expression at that, but shook it off as he pulled out his pocket watch to look at the time. _4:50_.

They had spent too much time in one place already.

Fully frowning at the thought, the silver-haired boy turned a corner to soon hear a familiar voice arguing with a _whining_ familiar voice.

"— Rolling around balls of trash is _not_ better than an all-out war," he heard and saw Riku say to a slightly furious-looking Sora.

"And an old man who goes by the name of Snake is so much more entertaining?" Sora countered as he glanced at the game in his boyfriend's hands.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry, Ri, but your taste in men is starting to slip."

"What? Sora, you full well kno —"

"Hey _Ri-ku_," Axel called from at the cash register — why hadn't Zexion noticed that he was there? — as the clerk began to ring up his game, "are you two done with your lover's spat and ready to purchase?"

As if Axel's words meant something, Sora and Riku ended their argument as they turned towards the direction that Axel and Zexion were and began walking, no trace of the random bout evident between them. Roxas popped up then also and followed after, Zexion taking a moment to respond.

As the clerk began to slide their products across the scanner, Zexion noticed that their video games ranged from everywhere: Sora's current obsession happened to be _Katamari Damacy_, while his double, Roxas, was purchasing _Mario Dance Dance Revolution_ and had been muttering to himself about buying and beating all the other DDRs, including _In the Groove_, so it was the last one; Axel held in his hand the newly released and now purchased _Guitar Hero 2_ (and had said that he and Demyx were definitely going to fight over it), and Zexion was purchasing the Gameboy version of _Sudoku_, his only thought being when the clerk handed it back to him, _Stupid obsessions …_

* * *

"I call Mario DDR first!" Sora yelled happily as they exited the toy store, while he poured a whole box of Nerds into his mouth. Roxas turned to look at Sora as if he had just announced that he was straight and dating Yuffie. 

"No."

"But, _Niiiiiichan_ —"

"No." Roxas repeated as Sora pouted. "Besides, you're _Niichan_."

"Well — ! … Yeah. But … But, how — how about … I let … youplayKatamarifirst?" Sora suggested. Roxas blinked to digest the last part, then looked as if he was considering the suggestion for a moment, then began to shake his head but stopped suddenly, as if he changed his mind.

"Okay. Deal. Hand?" Roxas held out his hand to the other boy and the other gladly took it. "… ew … Sora. Your hand's all sticky …"

Deciding on what type of toppings for two pizzas had never been such a hard topic for Zexion. At least, not when it was only he and Axel (and in rare cases, Demyx) choosing. But when it came to Riku, Sora, and Roxas added to the duo, it was an all-out war. Riku wanted Canadian bacon with olives and mushrooms, while Sora wanted pepperoni with bananas and anchovies, but neither liked the others' choices to touch their slices; Roxas liked ham and jalapeños, while Axel wanted pineapples and green peppers with barbequed chicken and all Zexion wanted was sausage and onions. Now, this wouldn't have been a problem if a) they weren't only buying two pizzas, b) Riku and Sora didn't have a problem with other toppings touching theirs, and c) they weren't short on money for either more pizzas or more toppings, meaning that their toppings were limited anyway.

So … because of their three problems, they were currently in the predicament of what toppings they were going to choose. _This is ridiculous …_ Zexion thought to himself as he watched the two sets of friends-turned-boyfriends argue back and forth. He wasn't even that hungry, and besides, if toppings were such a complicated discussion, why not make both pizzas cheese? Saves money, right? After Riku shouted something about Sora eating anything and everything that was edible on the planet Earth, Zexion had had enough. _I don't need this …_ he thought as he stood up from his seat in the booth and pulled up his left sleeve to see that the time read 6:00. The two had been bickering for twenty minutes already, and Zexion did not want nor wish to get a headache from it. Sighing in a definite tone, he turned on his heel to leave, ignoring Axel's worried shouts.

_Ocean-blue eyes tinted with seaweed green__ …_

Zexion frowned at his memory of the man he had met yesterday. The man had seemed so out of place in the book store, like he belonged far off into the ocean's icy waters. Or something. He had such unique eyes that Zexion really liked, the color standing out so much in the burgundy-carpeted book store. But that didn't give him a reason to start thinking about them as soon as he entered the place. Book stores gave books, not reason for guys to fanta —

"Welcome to the Emerald Blues and Crimson Jazz Boo —"

"Yuffie, not across the café!" Kairi scolded as she ran up beside her friend.

"Oops. Sorry, Kairi."

But Zexion's attention was not on the two girls as he set foot into the book store. He took a quick look around — just on a whim, not really hoping to find — but at the same time, _wanting_ to find — to see …

Icy teal eyes staring directly at him.

His eyes widened in surprise to actually see the cream-coloured male once again. He almost took a step back after blinking a few times to confirm that the guy was actually there but stopped himself just before doing so. This afternoon the man happened to be wearing dark suede combat boots, black — silk? or maybe even leather? — cargo pants and an embroidered — what looked like stained — polo shirt with seemingly scattered buttons all over it that went to nothing. And in his ears were those unique earrings from the other day.

He also noted that the man was currently sitting at the table that he had sat at the other day and currently staring at him with an amused expression.

Zexion blinked as he felt his cheeks redden as the realization of what he had been doing. _Why was I …_ The silver-haired boy's thoughts shut down then, though, as the pale blond-haired man stood up from his seat. _Oh no …_

"ZEXXXXION!" came a very _loud_ voice from behind the silver-haired teen as he was suddenly sent spiralling down to the ground. Looking to the side, he came face to face with vibrant green orbs and diamond-shaped violet tattoos.

Axel.

"We decided on cheese pizza, but you had left, so I came to retrieve you because, y'know, you need to eat and all. Also, we should return before Sora devours it all," Axel explained as he stood up straight, pulling the shorter boy up also. Zexion glared at him and debated whether or not the slightly older boy had just saved him or interrupted something that was important and bound to happen. Glancing back, he saw that the mysterious stranger with platinum-blonde hair was still watching him, but now his eyes were on Axel. "— and I'm sure that you wouldn't mind cheese pizza, even though your favourite is — yo, Zex, are you listening?" Zexion blinked as Axel's hand flew up in front of his face.

"Uh … yeah." Zexion muttered but he was really still watching the man whose gaze was now back on him. Zexion looked back at Axel and decided on what his next action was going to be. But before he could initiate it, the man became distracted.

"Ah, Mister Luxord," Yuffie called as she ran from behind the counter, "Are you leaving?"

"Hey, Zex," Axel said with an impatient tone as Zexion turned his attention back to his redheaded friend. "We're leaving. You must be tired or something because you keep on zoning out." Axel muttered as he grabbed the boy's arm and began to pull him out of the door.

"What? Wait, Axel —" His thoughts and what he was going to say faded away once more though as turquoise pools met with his midnight eyes as he left the tranquil book store.

* * *

7:30. 

It was _fucking_ seven-thirty.

After running around to various clothing stores for some pair of pants that Axel just _had_ to buy for his _beloved_ Roxas, a whole hour had passed. A whole hour that was basically wasted for Zexion, because all he bought from those billion stores was some new gloves, a really cool, pure silver chain, some handcuff replacements (a pair of handcuffs on one of his older pairs of pants had come off) and four differently designed black wristbands. He had a feeling he'd need them …

But now it was late, and the street lamps were coming on. He was standing outside of the ebony-coloured door to his small townhouse and pondering whether or not to step inside. His gut told him not to, but his brain told him better. Sighing in defeat, placing an un-gloved hand on the golden doorknob, he turned it.

Dark … and extremely cold, was the first thing that welcomed Zexion home. The second was a pair of strong but slim arms that practically just shot from out of the darkness. Zexion felt his body tense as he felt warm breath and mustard-brown hair tickle his cheek and neck.

"Welcome back, Zexion," Vexen spoke in a hushed voice, "I hope you had fun with Axel.

"… Go straight to bed, okay? Saïx is in a bad mood …" Vexen then let go and gave the boy a warm smile. Zexion only nodded then proceeded up the dark stairs and to his room. But when he reached the middle, where a small catwalk was, he abruptly ran into someone. _Oh, please don't let it — _

"Argh!" Zexion yelped as he was harshly shoved into the hard wall behind him.

"And where the hell were you!" he felt Saïx hiss right in his face. This wasn't good for him. He couldn't _see_ his everyday attacker. "And what was with _Axel_ talking for you? Can't you speak for _yourself_? What is he, your _boyfriend_? I thought he was dating that — that Roxas boy? Or … is he dating you both?" Zexion flinched as he felt one of Saïx's hands pull both of his arms above his head and hold his wrists tightly together, while the other yanked at his silver locks. Suddenly, as Zexion forced back a groan of pain, the hall light above him flickered on, and the dim light revealed a very pissed off Saïx. "Where were you!" Saïx continued. The question was rhetorical, so Zexion only stared back at him. "Going to _clubs_? Getting _drunk_? _Parties_? … Did you do your homework? And what's _this_ crap?" Zexion forced himself not to show any emotion, especially confusion, which he was feeling at the moment from the last comment. But soon his bottled thoughts were answered, as a small black book was now just inches from his pale face. _Ribbajack?_

Zexion, though he forbade it, let out a small gasp.

A slightly sadistic smirk came to Saïx's face at the silent response. "So you purchased this … filth?" he asked in a quiet manner as he quite slowly opened it and bent it far apart. Then, a moment later … with all of his strength — or at least part of it — ripped it straight down the middle of its spine. "Hmph." He dropped one half and threw the other half behind his back. Zexion used every ounce of control he had not to do anything rash. Including showing emotion. But Saïx didn't like the result, as he felt and saw the man lean fully onto him and bring a hand to his left cheek, then pull it away as soon as it had grazed it. "You little …" Zexion bit back another groan as the hand came in contact with his cheek once again, except with this time there was much more force behind it. He wanted to cup his now bruising cheek, but didn't dare move until he was permitted to do so, still feeling the blue-haired man against him. Saïx slowly stepped back and sneered. "Listen, you ungrateful little orphan, if you go anywhere tomorrow, it will be during the daytime. Understood?" Glazed denim-blues only blinked back in response, causing the man's anger to rise as he stepped forward and ground his soles into Zexion's bare feet. Grabbing the boy's shoulders, he growled, "You respond when being talked to. Understand, Zexion?" _Name basis. BAD._ The boy bit back a sigh laced within a sob, then nodded slowly to show that he fully understood, and Saïx let him go, pleased.

"Go to your room. And sleep," Saïx ordered as he stepped back once more. Zexion gave a short nod, then began the rest of his trek upstairs. But before he reached the final stair, he gave a quick glance back, only to see that Saïx's attention was now on the man standing at the foot of the stairs.

Vexen.

Had he seen the whole thing? Zexion didn't dwell on it long, though, as he noticed that the pine green-eyed man was not returning his gaze to the frost-blue haired man, but that his intense expression was fixed on _him_.

Zexion turned quickly and proceeded to his room, shutting the door softly and locking it in a hasty manner, now feeling slightly paranoid.

* * *

_Coffee cream coloured skin__ … Milky yellow hair … that uniquely-shaped earring — those many other earrings … swamp-lake blue orbs … Those eyes …_

Zexion frowned as he lifted his pale hand up to his ceiling, as if trying to touch it. _His name is Luxord …_ His frown deepened as he lowered his arm back down to his black cushioned sheets and turned his gaze to the full moon outside of his window. _But why does his name sound so familiar … ?_

**To be continued**

_Tasogare: …__ Yeah. This chapter had about five more written pages to it, but I got so jumbled and annoyed with it that I cut it from the second, and, after revising it, will be putting it at the beginning of the third chapter._

_All items mentioned in this __'fic are real are © their creator(s)._

_Random fact: Part of the title for this 'fic was inspired by Dir en grey's CD, Withering to death. It is also part of what made me start writing this._

_Random fact 02: Gu__itar Hero 2 will not be released in America until November. I don't own 1, but I do plan on getting 2._

_And lastly, writing about toy stores is actually pretty fun, and if I could fit, I would definitely go riding around in one of the carts and point to the interesting toys. _

_Don't forget to review! They inspire me to update!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: KH does not belong to me. Every character used in the compounds of this fanfic © Square Enix and Disney._

_Author's Note: I'M BACK! …Sorry for taking so long with updating, and thank you for the many reviews! I had technical difficulties with this chapter, losing the first thirteen pages and having to re-type them all. But that's only an excuse. Anyway, the much awaited Chapter Three. Again, thank you all for sticking with me! Take this as an extremely late New Year's present/only-slightly-late Valentine's Day Present! xD_

**Withering Beauty**

Wednesday through Friday went by uneventfully, except if you include being interrogated the first day, being pestered the other, sneaking to school clubs on another. This part of the week meant clubs and activities, and Zexion had ended up joining a few clubs at the beginning of the school year because of many different reasons; the first and most important of which was obvious.

A. Teachers and parents alike were always pestering the "young adults" to become active in school and join school clubs so that they could use them for college applications and make it into the school of their choice, B. Zexion truly enjoyed the few clubs he took enough interest in to spare some time for, and C. The most vital reason of all: to have a valid excuse to not go directly to that pretentious asylum called home.

Though the teen could never admit it to his uptight so-called guardian, the silver haired boy had a soft spot for artistic things and activities, and truthfully almost preferred them to music. But his guardian had certain standards and had picked his adoptive child's elective for him at the start of the school year. He wanted Zexion to excel in math, science, and music. His parental figure despised literature, thought history was for people who lived in the past and wanted the teen to become a likely candidate for a future manager of some major company… or something. Basically, control the young boy's life to make him the perfect future specimen of society. So, in order to avoid any and all conflict, Zexion secretly joined the Art Club, telling Saïx that he stayed after school for the Music Club, just like he wanted him to.

He made sure to hide each and every masterpiece he created as carefully and as inconspicuously as possible in the deepest corner of his closet.

* * *

Wednesday was the day Art Club held their meetings, and Zexion felt very relaxed while he worked. That is, until he was interrupted by a certain strawberry blonde. 

"Why did you not choose art class, Zexion?" he had asked as he watched the other boy's gloved hand move rapidly across the easel. Dark brown pastel in mid-stroke, Zexion stopped and turned his attention to Roxas.

"…What?" Roxas sighed as he also stopped what he was doing, placing down his drawing pencil, and waited until Zexion did the same.

"Zexion… if you're so good at Art—whichyoureallyare, nobluff—why did you choose music as an elective?" Roxas asked. Navy blue eyes blinked, then glanced back at the pastel painting.

"Why? Because I like music class," Zexion replied absentmindedly, not realizing that he had given his actual thoughts to the boy. Too late.

"But you don't do anything in there, _and don't you dare say that you do!_ Everyone knows for a fact that Strife can't teach music, even if it was all composed to the tune of 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'" Zexion flinched, as he knew that this was completely true. Cloud really didn't know a thing about music besides instrument names, nor any of the other subjects other than physical education. But he wasn't about to tell Roxas that. A lot of good _that_ would do _him_ in this conversation.

"…Yes… Strife **does** lack the teaching abilities for Music, but I don't like music class because we basically do nothing. I like music class because hopefully one day we'll get a teacher who knows what he's doing, and I'll be able to learn music correctly and eventually be able to play the dr—" Zexion's eyes widened as he clamped two soft leather gloved hands over his mouth. Dreams were **not** meant to be shared with "friends," and Zexion had said way too much. Why was it so easy to talk to this person he did not wish to open up to? Zexion waited for him to say something back, afraid to open his mouth lest he commence rambling again, but the younger boy only gave the older a warm smile in return, then went back to his sketch. Zexion took this moment to peek at the boy's artwork, and wasn't ready for what he saw. And Roxas said that Zexion could draw?

Blazing—though in vibrant grey, seeing that it was not in colour—flames surrounded the middle of the canvas, which happened to be a very detailed non-objective human-like figure drawn in an almost black. And the figure seemed to be controlling the fire around him…

* * *

Thursday. The sound of harmonized voices and sweet music filled Zexion's ears as he headed towards the entrance doors, causing him to stop in his tracks. It was the first time in a long time that he had heard _actual_ music coming from the chorus classroom during after school hours, or school hours in general, so he was immediately curious to whom was _teaching_ it because surely it couldn't be Cloud? 

Slowly and quite, in a slightly comical way, _stealthily_, Zexion made his way towards the moss-green doors and was about to turn away once he realized that it was open, but a familiar, exasperated voice stopped him from doing so.

"No, no! You need to sing in an octave lower," came the gym teacher's response as he scolded at one of the girls. "You're singing that line too high. Try again."

The girl gave the brunette man a shy nod, her eyes brimming with tears, then opened her mouth wide to begin once more, but was stopped once again by the teacher.

"Ienzo, are you going to stand out there watching us all afternoon, or would you like to join us?" Squall asked, his cold, grey, icy eyes now turned towards the partially cracked door.

Zexion's immediate response tore him between pulling away from the door and going home immediately and not moving at all and praying that Squall stayed where he was standing. But he realized how foolish both options were, so he replied very slowly, just barely above a whisper, "But Leonhart, sir, I'm not part of this club…"

He was surprised to hear a small chuckle as the reply. "But you _are_ part of music class, so maybe you can help me teach these… _children_ the proper ways of music?" The way Squall had said it made it seem harmless enough, and he was _supposed_ to be staying after for music anyway, so Zexion gave a small sigh, then entered the chorus room.

"Leonhart, sir, what do you think of changing career positions with a certain blonde?"

* * *

Friday. Throughout school, the usual end-of-the-school-week question was asked all around: "what are your plans for the weekend?" And Zexion wasn't spared from the repetitive event. All through the whole block of physical education, Axel took it upon himself to stand just mere centimetres from his shorter and quieter friend and asked like a broken record whether or not the younger boy wished to go with everyone to the movies. And, as usual, the younger had declined each and every time until he felt inclined to not answer anymore and stay quiet. But for all the years that they had known each other, Zexion should have known that the spiky redhead was not going to give up anytime soon. That is, until a furious and annoyed looking Squall walked carefully up to the duo and gave a silent command for Axel to return to the floor hockey game that was currently in progress. Zexion had found it to be amusing… for about two moments.

* * *

Saturday mornings are mornings that provide the classic morning cartoons for the young children, and the few teenagers who still watch. Brothers and sisters alike, who wake up at seven o'clock exactly, still in their pyjamas, sit down in front of the living room television with a large, overflowing bowl of their favourite cereal. Mornings like these mean rest and relaxation for the hard-working parents who worked many dragging hours all week. Saturday mornings are also for those countless teenagers who stayed up until the wee morning hours throughout the whole school week for many different reasons: jobs, homework, after school activities, just to be up late or the insane parties that they attended Friday night. And they all use half of that _wondrous_ weekend day to catch up on much needed sleep. Saturday mornings are defined in moments like these. 

Well, for most people anyway.

Zexion had not attended any parties the night before, nor had he missed out on any "much needed" sleep during the week, and he surely wasn't one of the few teenagers who normally woke up for the classic Saturday morning cartoons. But on that partly cloudy weekend morning, he was up early and very much awake, having woken up countless times during his slumber.

Glancing at the lime green numbers on his dusty alarm clock, the sleepy teen wasn't surprised to see that it read 8:00 A.M.

Stretching, Zexion fumbled from out of his tangled sheets and headed over towards his closet. Peering into it, a wave of black that he was accustomed to seeing hit him. Multiple black pants covered in either silver chains, handcuffs, or a trillion differently designed belts and/or zippers. Shirts of black, dark blue that matched his eyes, a carefully hidden one of _lavender_, and the occasional pale blue or creamy white was to the other side of all the black. Then there were his boots. They came in many different sizes and many different designs that could usually match one or more of a pair of his pants—wait. Was that a pair of black vans…?

Deciding finally on a pair of pants with a few belts and zippers here and there, a rich midnight blue thin shirt that matched his eyes and his less-than-noticeable black combat boots, Zexion was ready to leave his wretched home to enjoy his day. All that was missing was… his favourite black coat. …Which… happened to be downstairs on the coat rack.

_Great… _

Hand groping through a neatly stacked pile of dirty clothes for his cell phone and finding it in yesterday's boot, the young teen was ready to head… downstairs.

* * *

"No, no. Listen, Shinra Company is by _far_ is **no** threat to the No Hear—Lexaeus! I told you **NOT** to put the aluminium in the microwave! Ah, you're going to blow the place up!" 

BOOM!

Zexion stopped in front of the kitchen entrance as he watched in slight alarm as their microwave caught on fire. The phone that Vexen had been talking on now lay a foot from the kitchen table, as the blonde haired man was now hosing down what was left of the mini oven with the fire extinguisher.

"Oh dear. When Saïx sees this…" he heard Vexen mutter as he placed the extinguisher down on the counter. Lexaeus gave a soft apologetic whisper of an answer, then exited the kitchen, not even sparing a glance at the teen. Sighing, Vexen watched the large man retreat from his mistake, running his hands stressfully through his long blonde strands as he began to mutter to himself. Then, after probably staring blankly at the entrance for a good ninety seconds, his green eyes took notice of the boy.

"Zexion? Oh, good morning." Zexion watched Vexen with a careful gaze to see what the man's next move was going to be. Usually, by now, he would have _done_ more than just say "good morning." When it came to Zexion, he was almost as bad as Axel and would not have only greeted him but would have ta—oh.

"Good morning. Zexion!" Vexen shouted happily as he practically dashed across the kitchen and flung himself upon the startled boy. For a second Zexion was afraid that the older male was going to shower him with kisses, which, unfortunately for him, Vexen did do sometimes. But thankfully, the man only took away all of his oxygen for a few moments until he realized that was suffocating the poor boy. "Are you hungry? I can fix you something to eat in the micro—…_toaster_."

"Not hungry."

"Oh, but my _dear_ Zex—"

"_Ienzo_."

Every muscle in the boy's body tensed at the calm and softly spoken way of how the newest person who had entered the kitchen had addressed him. The voice had been tinged with slight annoyance as well as wonder.

"G-good m-morn—"

"I see you are up early this morning." Saïx interrupted briskly. He was currently donned in a rich ivory lab coat with the N.H.C. insignia engraved into the coat before that deep voice spoke again. "It is a fine day outside today. No clouds. No rain." he spoke the sentence in a soft tone, with a half smile on his face. Even though there had been no question, Zexion knew that he was meant to give a response.

"I-I had planned on g-going out," Zexion stuttered, and silently cursed himself for doing so, as he tried to pry Vexen off and failed miserably, "to a few stores." He finished as soon as the blue-haired man began to walk over towards him, and stopped mere inches in front of him.

"You know the curfew, Ienzo."

"Yes, sir. Seven, no later." Zexion recited from memory.

"…And," Saïx paused for a moment, almost forgetting his question, but remembering quickly, "your last lone lab assignment and report?"

"Fully completed and on my desk… sir." Zexion replied, then as an afterthought, "Would you like for me to go retrieve it?"

"No, no. That is all right," Saïx said with a slight swish of his hand. "I will go get it myself. Go enjoy your day." And quite surprisingly, he then felt Saïx's heavy hand as the man ruffled his silver locks in a playful manner. "I will be on my way." He then turned to leave the kitchen, but stopped once he reached the door frame. "Oh, and Vexen?"

"Yes, Sa-_chan_?" Vexen replied in a sweet but definitely sarcastic tone.

"Fix me a cup of coffee. Black. …And let go of the boy. You know _better_."

Vexen gave a huffy noise in reply but quickly complied with what he had been commanded to do, letting go of Zexion a few seconds after he had been told. Saïx left the kitchen pleased.

* * *

Shopping wasn't one of Zexion's favourite things to do, but it was definitely something that he didn't mind doing. As long as Vexen or Lexaeus—and on rare, usually "mildly" _pleasant_, to simply put it, occasions, Saïx—wasn't accompanying him. Vexen tended to try and buy everything in sight—he was the one who supplied him with three dollars lunch money everyday and five more dollars to the side—which caused Zexion to have to refuse many things. Saïx didn't like Zexion shopping at the "outcast" clothing store for "outcast"teens, Island Now. You would think that because they lived on a chain of islands, no store would dare to sell any all-black clothing. But Island Now was **_known_** for their all-black clothing, and Zexion shopped there all the time. As long as Saïx was _not _shopping with him, of course. 

He stopped at that very store first, the cashier giving him a shy hello as he stepped inside. He was in and out quickly, purchasing two thin black sleeveless shirts and one pair of parachute pants, then leaving. His next stop was the nearest Seashore Mart, which wasn't really a mart at all but a video store. After searching for some Burton film Saïx had requested and another thirty minutes for a movie that he wanted, he left the bustling store and took to roaming the town.

* * *

11:00 A.M. 

Zexion frowned at his golden pocket watch as he realized that it wasn't even noon yet as he sat down on a bench in the local public park. The park was near the island's shore, but not near enough for the tall wilting trees to merge with the sand. Little bushes with snaky branches clawed at the park's marigold coloured sign, making the words "Fiery" and "Park" hidden from the eyes. In actuality, the stone sign read "Fiery Globe Park."

Looking up at the clear blue sky, the now bored teen noticed two birds flying together quite animatedly. It was a strange sight, though, a dark coloured bird—perhaps a crow, flying with what looked to be a crimson coloured cardinal.

_I wonder what it's like to fly…_ he suddenly thought, as he further watched the two birds land in a nearby tree. The cardinal then did something unexpectedly, and he thought it was a quite strange gesture—snuggled its head into the crow's breast—if that was the proper description for what it was doing. _What—?_

"Hey, _mister_! Wanna play catch with me?" Blue-silver brows furrowed in confusion for a moment, as his mind had been focused on those two birds, but then, turning his gaze back to the surroundings not up in the sky, he saw who it was that had spoken to him.

It was a small boy around the age of seven whom he recognized after noticing the shoulder-length, pale lavender coloured hair that covered his left, ruby-red eye. Looking at the boy's purple sweater, tan pants, and lavender shoes, Zexion remembered exactly who this child was. And that _he_ was **not** a **_he_**, but a _she_.

"Where is your guardian?" Zexion asked the little girl as he stood up from the bench.

"I came here with Lulu-chan and Irvy!" she answered cheerfully as she held up the red ball again. "Wanna play ball with me, Niichan?" Zexion gave the girl a rare smile then a shake of his head.

"Talkative today, are you?"

"So are you, Niichan."

"…True," Zexion replied with a slight, small chuckle. "I'm sorry though, Fuujin; I have somewhere to be," he half-laughed as he gave the girl a pat on her head and turned to leave. "Tell Lulu and Irvine that they need to stay out of trouble for me."

* * *

12:00 Noon. **Ding-a-ling!**

The small golden bell that tinkled away every time he entered had begun to annoy Zexion, for he had soon realized that its small ringing noise brought much unneeded attention towards the door and whoever had just entered it. Meaning him. Thankfully, though, the normally present ebony-haired _ninja_ was nowhere to be seen, and neither was her fellow devious S.H.G. member. Sighing in relief and beginning his routine glance around the bookstore-café, he felt an odd feeling of disappointment in not seeing those icy, teal pools that he had come to like…

Ignoring the burning feeling that had begun to rise in his cheeks, Zexion looked around the store once more for an employee so he could purchase some food, then felt a slight tinge of anger and neglect towards proper customer service when he could not find a single one. At the moment, he even partially wished that Yuffie were at her cash register, shouting across the café… Sighing, the dark-eyed boy took a seat at the same manila table he had sat at three days ago and went to playing with sugar packets to occupy himself.

After about twenty minutes of organizing the little white packets into various designs across the table, he became extremely bored with them, for the minuscule sweetness of what was inside those securely pressed pieces of paper reminded him that he was hungry, which also had reminded him that there were no employees to take his order to serve him. As soon as the last thought had finished crossing his mind though, he realized that he was being rather stubborn and could just go to one of the many nearby restaurants if he really wished to eat. But… he felt this strange feeling that if he were to leave the store, that some golden opportunity would pass him by.

…Not like he needed a golden opportunity.

Now remembering what he had _originally_ come to the bookstore for, as he pushed his hunger aside, Zexion left his corner table and travelled over towards the kid's horror books section to again purchase a mistreated book that he hadn't finished reading. Picking up a fresh, new, not **tortured** _Ribbajack_, Zexion began to retreat back to his table, stopping only once he realized that there were a pair of amethyst pools staring at him.

_Oh._

But rather than change his direction and go towards those familiar eyes, he continued his trek towards his table and sat down once more. Now that the Hotaka girl was at the cash register, he _could_ purchase lunch, but… he felt like being difficult thanks to the lack of customer service he had received earlier. So instead, while ignoring the slight grumble that had emitted from his stomach, he slowly opened his not yet purchased book and began reading where he had left off.

Somehow, though, Kairi took this as a sign go over to the quiet boy, which she did almost immediately after he had picked up the book. Zexion didn't bother to look up as she stopped by the rim of his table, but he did acknowledge her presence by placing down his book and gathering up all of the sugar packets to put them back where they belonged. At this, Kairi gave him a small smile as she leaned forward against the table, placing her lithe elbows onto the top surface.

"Good afternoon, Zexion-kun." she began in a low, devious tone as she pressed herself against the table some more, " Welcome to the Emerald Blues and Crimson Jazz Bookstore and Café. How may I be of _service_?" Zexion suppressed the urge to snort as he listened to how the girl had implied the word "service." As if. He then watched as she slid a menu slowly across the table, stopping only after deliberately poking him with it. Zexion once again suppressed certain desires to do something terrible to the girl as he ignored her _obvious_ flirting. He was doing a splendid job of it, too, until the redheaded girl's hand slowly tried in a subtle manner to touch his gloved one. Catching the action in mid-act, he pulled his hands back quickly in recoil.

"I will call you over when I'm done choosing," Zexion spat harshly underneath his breath, then waited for Kairi to take a step back from the table before opening the menu. It unnerved him greatly to have someone, especially one of the members of the S.H.G., trying to flirt with him, let alone touch him. Before his stomach could become sickly upset from displeasure and discomfort, he let his eyes skim over the fresh fruits and the various drinks to remind that it was void of food.

A few minutes later, though, Kairi was back at his table and gazing at him intensely, as soon as he chose to close the menu.

"Zexion-kun?" The young teen was reminded once again why he wasn't really fond of females. Especially types like the girl fawning over his existence. He didn't need people to fawn over his existence. He had enough trouble avoiding the _few_ people he could actually stand who fawned over his existence. Like Axel and Vexen.

"Zexion-kun?"

Oh, yeah… he was being talked to.

"I would like to order a medium-sized extra buttered popcorn and a cup of hot chocolate with small, fluffy, marshmallows." The silver-haired teen spoke without even re-opening the menu. He really did love annoying the Silver Haired Gods Society members, or at least trying to.

It didn't seem to work on the ringleader, though. "Would… you like to order any _real_ food?" Zexion, at this moment, actually had to give the crimson-haired girl some credit. Unlike Yuffie, she did **not** stutter when he chose to speak, nor did she hold back what she wanted to say towards the boy. In fact, she was very straightforward and blunt towards him. The teen began to not like this girl even more.

"A bowl of freshly cut strawberries, if you do not mind." Immediately after he was done, he returned to reading and ignored the young girl's presence once again. Kairi made a disappointed face, then left to make his order.

Soon after Kairi had finished preparing Zexion's meal, the hyperactive ninja-girl had come in, loud and overzealous as usual.

"Good afternoon, Kairi!" she bubbled as she dashed through the front doors and hopped over the counter, barely dodging the cash register and Zexion's meal. Kairi yelped, just barely dodging a karate-like kick in the face from the older girl.

"Y-Yuffie!" She ignored her friend and coworker, though, as she turned around and spotted the silver-haired teen, who just happened to have been watching the whole scene, his book forgotten thanks to the clamorous distraction. He immediately felt his muscles stiffen, slight fear creeping into his very soul on what could be going through the "naïve" _kunoichi's_ mind. But to his wary surprise, all she did was shoot a wry smile in his direction, causing the odd, but unfortunately, familiar feeling of a shudder travelling through his entire self. He looked away almost immediately, now curious as to whether or not he had underestimated the other S.H.G. members. Especially Yuffie.

"Good afternoon, Zexion-kun." A whisper. So close, but so far. Zexion had to do all in his will-power to **not** whirl around as fast as common speed could spin him in regards to someone suddenly standing too close him. Yuffie gave him another testing smile as she placed down his intriguing tray of food. "Here's your medium-sized buttered popcorn, a cup of "hot chocolate with small, fluffy, marshmallows;" a bowl of freshly cut strawberries and a complementary small hot fudge sundae with sweet cherries and strawberries in replacement of the banana," she told him rather cheerfully. "Would you like to pay now or later?" Zexion had to not scoff at the last bit. After not getting the proper customer service earlier, he planned on paying them back full force.

"No, thank you. I'll pay later."

* * *

The stories that proceeded after _Ribbajack_ were not as amusing as the main one. During reading the short book, to the navy-eyed boy's dismay and surprise, he had eaten all of his strawberries, half of his popcorn, drank three-fourths of his hot chocolate after adding at least eight sugar packets to it to make it ultra sweet and began on his complementary ice cream bowl. Glancing at his closest watch, which happened to be his normally numbered wristwatch, he quickly read the time to see that it was almost two. 

The sound of rushing, flowing gushes of water startled his midnight eyes as rain suddenly began to pour from mushy-grey clouds right outside the window beside his table.

And it had been such a clear, wonderful sky this morning.

Sighing, Zexion felt a slight irritation towards the rain as he cursed Mother Nature for not warning the meteorologists of the chance of percentage of rain. He _really_ wished he had an umbrella with him.

As soon as that irate thought slipped past his exhausted mind, the front door jingled open and a dripping, drooling medium-sized charcoal black umbrella made its entrance known to the bookstore-café and its floor. But the umbrella was not what got Zexion's slowing down brain to reboot; it was the tall, cream-coloured, partially damp man underneath.

_L-Luxord…!_

If one knew the antisocial teenager, how the normally stolid boy acted towards the rest of the human race, one would know that what Zexion did next was quite amusing and un-Zexion of himself.

Feeling the overcoming need to suddenly hide himself, through he could not fathom _why_, Zexion snatched up the menu, untouched until then, and jerked it open quickly, effectively shielding his face with it as soon as intense iced seaweed-blue orbs looked his way.

"Ah! Good afternoon, Mister Luxord! Welcome! Welcome!" he heard Yuffie's constantly exuberant voice greet across the store. He was sure that he also heard Kairi let out a loud sigh and had no doubt in his mind that she was probably scolding the slightly older, cheerful girl.

And though he could not see through the menu that now protected his face, he _knew_ that cutting teal eyes were staring _directly_ at him.

Clad in a rich midnight colour that might match the hiding teen's eyes, the man seemed out of place to Zexion once more. This man that caused him to _actually_ care that he existed, seemed as if he _shouldn't_ exist on the island-city. To Zexion, this man that he knew for less than a week, that caused unexplainable actions and emotions to stir, churn, and confuse the poor teen, belonged in a distant town or inland. Zexion peeked to the left of his menu to see if the familiar—yet _not_ familiar, alluring—yet _not_ enigmatic man had proceeded off somewhere else only to jolt back behind the menu once more.

"Good afternoon, _Madame_ Yuffie," he suddenly heard a suave coated accented voice airily reply to the bouncy teenager from where the man had previously—and presently—were standing.

"Good afternoon, Mister Luxord," Yuffie repeated, calmly for once, her voice now closer but further from Zexion. "Is there anything in particular you would like to order this afternoon?"

It was odd to hear the normally peppy girl talk in such a serious tone, void of all mirth, and replaced with a reserved attitude. Who _was_ this man if he could calm the tornado known as Yuffie?

"Ah, no, that is quite all right Yuffie, I will order something… at an later hour." he spoke with such an honourable and authoritative voice, making wheels and gadgets twist and turn in Zexion's mind once more. He had had some pretty unique run-ins with individual adults before, yes, but **none** of then left impressions on his thoughts like this one. Probably because he literally had _run_ into him. "I will return here later, I make this promise. Thank you, Madame Yuffie." Such a passive voice.

Zexion took this moment to peek once again, and was surprised to see the odd gesture of Yuffie giving a courteous bow to the man known as Luxord, and then the man giving Yuffie a small pat on the shoulder before casually walking off towards the many shelves of books.

Almost-black eyes wavered as the silvern-haired teen let out a sigh he hadn't known he had held, and placed down the menu. Mind spinning, Zexion recalled and thought over what he had just done. Now, the teenage boy was not a person without sense; nor were he one to jump to superstitions or conclusions, but he could _feel_ that he was supposed to catch his attention. To his utter disbelief and surprise though, he welcomed this thought, feeling content with this notion. Groaning, the boy rested his head upon the menu, drifting more deeply into the depths of his unusual thoughts.

* * *

2:35 P.M. 

Zexion had become somewhat antsy in the last hour, unable to sit completely still, sloppily doing his normal routine of rearranging the sugar packets into little designs on the table. This time, though, he could only arrange them into a quadrilateral version of the oddly designed earring that hung delicately in _that_ man's right ear. His thoughts had become jumbled, and he didn't like it one bit, being confused and not knowing the answer to _this_ problem, for he was one who could catch on to something quickly, who usually kept a calm, collected attitude towards almost any matter. Almost. That "almost" had not mattered before because he had never been presented with anything that could test it, but now…

And here he thought that thanks to the situations at home, he couldn't be surprised about anything anymore.

"…—'re welcome, Mister Luxord," he suddenly heard the ringleader of that horrible silver-haired obsession club speak politely to his right, shattering all crude thoughts that had passed his mind.

A jolt at that moment ran through the silver-haired teen as he glanced to his right to see Luxord purchasing books and Kairi attempting a fake smile. He turned away almost immediately, hoping that the man wouldn't notice him because he had a feeling that if he did, the man would come visit his table. And Zexion didn't want him to, for he couldn't seem to wonder why _this_ man took an interest in him; and how, in turn, the man interested him to an extent. Zexion, letting out a small sigh, decided once more to slowly rest his head upon the manila table, his face pressing against the cool smooth paper of the sugar packets. What was _wrong_ with him today?

* * *

2:45 P.M. 

He shouldn't have decided on looking up from the sugar packets and the room temperature manila table. Really, he shouldn't have sat up, Zexion thought angrily to himself as he watched as a gloved hand pulled the seat directly across from him at the two-person table, and watched with slight alarm as said person sat down in the seat. Which caused him no choice but to come face-to-face with piercing, unreadable, almost bright turquoise-defined eyes and a warm, but oddly _placed_ smile.

Immediately, different courses of action trailed through Zexion's clambered mind at how to deal with what was presented before him, but in the end he only chose to pull down the sleeves of his coat to hide his many watches, then sat up straight and gave the man a guarded look. Neither said anything for a few moments, watching each other with a slightly comforting gaze, neither breaking the eye contact. Nor did either move. At all.

Forcing his denim-coloured eyes not blink more than needed under the heavy gaze, for fear that the almost-claiming silence would disappear, the young boy could feel his heart racing as he let in and out shallow patches of breath. Why was his heart racing? Why was he reacting this way? Why—…?

He didn't understand his way of thinking today at all.

* * *

2:50 P.M. 

It had become a challenge, a silent game that neither wanted to lose, but in the end, one must always lose. Though, it was this _loser's_ fault that they had lost the sudden ongoing staring contest.

For, once again, the young teen should not have decided on looking at one of his many watches, but he just _had_ to see the time. Now it was going to haunt him, Old habits that are drilled into ones mind are habits that die hard, though. Or so they say. The consequence to this old habit was really a simple consequence, just an unwanted one. Doing so had broken the eye contact that he and the unnerving man had casually turned into a challenge a staring contest. Now though, thanks to the contest becoming complete once the young teen had lost, the man, _Luxord_, gave him another eerie smile. But before Zexion could question it, after finally finding a reason to speak, the Hotaka girl with those always devising violet eyes had silently walked over to _his_ table, and placed down a steaming cup of hot chocolate and some cream in front of the man, then stalked off without even saying a word to either of them. Zexion watched her retreat back behind the counter as a tint of surprise crossed his face, before his eyes and thoughts were reeled back to the manila table suddenly. Or, rather, the man at _his_ manila table.

"I see that you are fond of sudoku," came the quiet yet deep, strong voice as he watched the man intertwine his fingers and prop them against his chin, Zexion gave the man a look that was a mix between a glare and surprise, wondering exactly where that line came from, because he currently had no sudoku-like things with him. Regaining his composure as quickly as possible, though, he masked his thoughts once more and made sure not to utter a word of response. Luxord's smile broadened as he suddenly turned his attention to the young teen's bags and spoke once more, teal eyes eyeing the contents inside if it.

"_Dark Water_—that's by Kouji Suzuki. Is it any good?" Feeling the slightly discomforting notion that he would not be left alone any time soon, Zexion gave a shrug in reply this time. It wasn't like someone to actually seek out the normally hushed boy's company, so in truth, Zexion _wasn't_ sure _how_ to "react" to such attention. He was used to Axel and others like Demyx and Vexen, but… He wondered then if he should continue with the silent game or if he should actually offer up a few words. "I thought you purchased _that_ the day I ran into you, or rather, you ran into me." Zexion would have scowled at being blamed on their little "meeting" which was more of a collision, but a word the blue-eyed man had said had caught his attention instead. Deep blue eyes slowly blinking, Zexion had to glare around to first find out what "_that_" was. Catching sight of the book on the table, he immediately realized that the man was talking about _Ribbajack_, the book that had been so poorly treated by his… guardian. Though he tried vaguely to hide it, a solemn smirk graced the young teen's face as he responded with little to no emotion,

"I did. Lost it. Purchased a new one." He watched with an effaced-spiteful look as the pale blonde-haired man opened his mouth as if to question the fragments he had just replied cautiously with, but a bouncy presence caused the both of them to stop their sentences before they could even fully form them. Zexion had been about to tell the man that the repurchasing issue was none of his business, while Luxord… well, Zexion could not read minds, and he was almost positive that he never would be able to, so he wasn't sure what the man actually had planned on saying, really.

The bubbly waitress seemed to not notice that she had interrupted the two males in a seemingly important conversation as she gave her full attention to the silvern-haired teen who was currently sporting a small glance of a look that was composed of a man between annoyance and "saviour."

"Hello Zexion-kun, I was wo—"

"Could I have another hot chocolate?" Interrupt before she could start speed-talking, Zexion had learned, to save oneself from a one-sided Yuffie-chat and a headache.

"Oh, o-okay." Bingo. Hit eight on the mark, and just in time too. The dangerously dark-eyed boy earlier hadn't fully misinterpreted the ebony-haired female as he still could get a stutter out of her. Really, he shouldn't have this sort of an effect on people. He wasn't anything special, not that he knew of. But people seemed to be drawn towards him, like Axel, Demyx, Vexen, Yuffie (and the rest of the S.H.G.), and… Luxord. Thoughts beginning to head in uneasy direction, Zexion was somewhat thankful when Yuffie started to chat anyway.

"By the way, Zexion-kun, who do you believe is going to win the V.D. Poll—contest—to be _your_ date to the Valentine's Day Dance?" Zexion stood corrected. He'd rather have treaded through those uneasy thoughts that have to think about _that_.

"Do you think that I'll win?"

Zexion groaned inwardly. Why wouldn't people leave him alone? There were the slightly rabid fan girls of his school, his guardians—… cousin (?), the red-handed redhead Axel and his partner in "crime," the slightly manipulative Demyx… and now Luxord. The young teen, compared to what everyone else seemed to think, really didn't care about existing, which was his opinion on his life. But _these_ people…

"Ah, Zexion-kun, you know you're really, really a talented individual." Zexion sighed as the peppy-girl began to switch topics. "And it's not because you're one of the most popular guys at Dawn, either. I mean, you're truly talented! How can one person be so talented in so many different things and get good grades on top of that, Zexion-kun?" Trying not to blink rapidly or look stunned, the now slowly agitating boy stared with a blank expression at the attention-challenged girl as he tried to suppress a confused expression. What _now_ was the probably-crazy girl talking about?

Apparently though, to his utter dismay, his confusion showed on his face, no matter how much he tried to suppress it, for a coy smile now graced the plotting girls face as she continued nonchalantly, "you know, none of your masterpieces from the Art Club are ever put on display it seems. I have a few ideas why they're not though. Either you, Zexion-kun, have seduced the sponsor into becoming your eternal slave who answers at your beck and call to help you conquer the world and all who are not equal to your ethereal beauty; or, Option C, where you are the secret leader of the Silver Haired Gods Mafia of the World and sell your splendid genius art so you can become the next Daimyou of Russia."

What… the… hell.

Zexion had already known the night before, when he could not get a normal night's rest that this Saturday was going to be exceptionally different than his previous ones, ones that could have been considered mostly normal. He realized quickly though that his Saturday would be off that morning when Saïx had actually been in the right state of mind. It dawned in him that this Saturday would hold new experiences as soon as he had entered the bookstore-café, due to the absence of waitresses when had first arrived, then later the sudden, precipitous change in climate and weather—that howling storm brewing outside, which had brought the mysterious man known as Luxord. That same man… the enigmatic yet spontaneously hyperactive child (who, in truth, was most likely older than he) known as Yuffie who completely irked him now to no end.

The girl who finalized his abnormal Saturday, who he now felt like killing with Luxord's big, black umbrella.

Or something equally sharp.

Casting the _random_ whatever—that-could-be-considered that Yuffie had concocted aside, Zexion felt his anger begin to swell as he absorbed the _truth_ the sparky girl had spoken. No one, **no** _one_ was supposed to know about his artwork, nor that he was part if the Art Club, unless they were an Art Club member or one of his 'friends'. Yet, this sneaky, _ninja_—**brat**—knew, which probably meant that the rest of the S.H.G. also knew. Zexion, for the first time in years felt betrayed by… something. Or someone. Zexion then felt the small, familiar, wariness of fear seeping like a foggy haze into the back if his mind as his conscious reeled with what the devastating possibilities of what could happen to his life now that something like that was known to the most gossiping girls on the island. He also felt extremely pissed of and actually ready to cause physical harm to another being. He felt ready to pull put a specific cold piece of metal hidden in a specific place, that he kept on him at all times, to sue to inflict pain upon the exuberant girl. And causing pain was really not his forte. He was actually the complete opposite. He hadn't felt so livid in a while. Zexion felt—Zexion felt so—…Zexion felt quite—no—_extremely_ surprised when the pale-blonde man began to softly speak in his defence.

"Miss Yuffie, I think Sir Zexion does not appreciate being… let us say—_flattered_—by what you have discovered towards his… abilities. In fact, from what I can understand, I am quite positive that he would appreciate you quickly returning with his hot chocolate he had asked for as soon as possible, rather than continue to chatter, if you do not mind." he finished, a small smile gracing his tanned features.

There was an somewhat oddly-placed silence as Yuffie did not respond. Only then, as she turned her attention slowly towards the man sitting directly across from the slowly calming boy, did reality seem to reappear in her eyes.

"Aa… Ah! Mister Luxord! Are you and Zexion-kun friends?!" Zexion noticed then. After the girl's odd reaction, that something was odd about what she had said as a blush graced her cheeks once Luxord gave her a small smile once more.

"Ah, no, we are just… acquaintances, so to say. In reality, we have actually just met." Yuffie's only reaction was a glance between the two, then a meek smile as she turned so that she could keep her attention on the both of them. Why was she so calm all of the sudden, like earlier when she had been around the man? Just a few minutes ago, she was her usual peppy self, but now once the puzzling man had spoken, her attitude—… _oh_.

The answer to the mystery hit him hard, due to how foolish it was. It actually would have seemed quite hilarious in any other situation, if not for how much the impact this man had on Yuffie's attitude was not as drastic.

Yuffie had _**not** realized_ that Luxord had _been_ sitting there until _just_ now.

"Aa… Well, I'll be off then. See you in a few minutes, Zexion-kun," she gave him a mischievous wink as she turned to leave, "and Mister Luxord." an awkward wave directed towards the man as she left to prepare Zexion's drink.

As soon as the girl was behind the counter, Luxord turned back to the blue-eyed boy and gave him another smile, while the teen had already donned another guarded look.

"So… you are one who attends New Dawn High School with Yuffie, I take it? Hm?" the man quietly asked as he folded his arm slightly as he leaned forward against the table. This comment caused Zexion to eye him warily as his suspicious magnified.

"What do you want from me?" he spat back in a slight hiss, and apparently catching Luxord off-guard as his teal eyes widened in surprise.

"P-Pardon?" Luxord blinked in confusion. Zexion scoffed, not surprised by his reaction. He was an adult after all. Now he felt like talking, thanks to Yuffie's antics, causing him for the first time in a long, long while to become truly angry. And he felt like taking his anger out on the mysterious man. The same man who stopped him from killing the ebony-haired menace.

"Saïx says that adults, or just people in general, only take interest in someone because they want something from them in return." He huffily explained. "So…

What do _you_ from _me_?"

Luxord seemed to consider the possibility of what the teen said for only a mere moment before letting out a low chuckle.

"Sir Zexion, if I may call you that, do _you_ trust in what this 'Saïx' speaks?" he asked in such a rhetorical way that it made Zexion glare back in return. Not once had he said that he believed in **_anything_** that that "guardian" of his spoke. "…Skill lies within understanding and manoeuvring do that the outcome works in your favour; while, belief lies within trusting your knowledge and common sense." He paused as he watched Zexion's glare slowly subside into a stifled curious expression. "Words from one who was known as the '_Wise King.'_"

"And… what does this have to do with what you want from me?" a meek voice replied quietly. Zexion blinked, and forced himself not to cover his mouth, surprised at himself speaking. The man only smiled once more, causing the teen to wonder if those smiles were fraudulent or equitable.

"For now… let us just say that I wish to know about, Sir Zexion." Luxord muttered partly to himself as he glanced out the window. A distant gaze flickered in his eyes, but a moment later it was gone. Right then, for reasons unknown than earlier, the denim-hued boy felt compelled to talk.

"H-how about… how about we start over?" the teen heard his voice suggesting and watched in mild horror as he unfolded his own arms and extended a hand towards the man. Was his own mind now betraying him now? "Introduce ourselves the correct way? Rather than learning of each others names through around us?"

Darn those lips, which were now willingly to speak to the abstruse man sitting before him. But apparently Luxord could not _see_ the inner battle going on in the boy's mind as he extended his own hand and encased the smaller, glove within glove.

Warning alarms went off in the withdrawn boy's mind as his body promptly ignored them and didn't recoil like usual in response to the touch.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Luxord Kirizuma, and I frequent this bookstore as of late."

…And Zexion's subconscious had asked for a normal" introduction.

"He-hello. My name is Zexion I-Ienzo. It's—it's a pleasure to meet you." Heartbeat now also betraying him, Zexion cursed himself for stuttering and actually giving the strange man his real last name. But the thought was soon forgotten as the man gave his still enclosed hand a small squeeze and a partial shake before letting go in what seemed an extremely slow manner.

Feeling the rise of warmth in his cheeks, he turned towards the window as he slowly brought his hand back to his lap. Though the man said he had no ulterior motives, Zexion could _feel_ that the man was only speaking a half-truth.

"I take it that you are of the junior year, correct?" he heard an amused voice inquire him to draw his attention back. Warm swamp-like blue pools delighted in the depths of the teen's dusty sapphire orbs as he returned the gaze and gave a shy nod in reply. "May I ask of the name of your teachers?"

Normally, that question coming from a complete stranger should have caused Zexion to withdraw, especially since he was one who did **not** normally talk to ones even considered his friends, but he found himself explaining himself to the cream-coloured man. Explaining it down to Cloud's cluelessness, to Squall's secret love for music, Sephiroth's cold demeanour that was only a show (to an extent), Auron's exciting tales and myths that had nothing to do with what they were supposed to be learning in history, Vincent and his love of poetry and Romantic literature, and stopping at Ansem's habit of blowing up the classroom.

"—always pestering Sephiroth, though Sephiroth doesn't seem completely angered about it. On one occasion, I've seen him having a quiet chat with the intelligent yet—disastrous—science teacher, and he seemed to be actually enjoying it," he paused as he noticed a slight change in the man, but he was still listening intently none-the-less. But as soon as he had mentioned the name Ansem…

"I… see. Now, may I ask of what clubs you are in, beside the Art Club? Out of mere curiosity?" A deep frown passed over his face as recollection of what had transpired earlier resurfaced in his mind.

_No one is supposed to know of my attendance in the Art Club…_

"And why not?"

Zexion blinked and stared at the contemplative man's face. Had he actually said that out-loud?

"B-because…" he felt himself stutter as he bit his tongue so not to answer.

"Unfortunately for you, Sir Zexion," Luxord began with a half-smile, apparently accepting the "because" as a plausible answer, "a member of the club would have eventually mentioned your attendance in it, due to your popularity, it seems." Midnight blues began to prepare a glare, but all was forgotten at the sincere look in the man's sharp blue eyes.

Sighing, Zexion chose to change the subject instead, rather than dwell on how much the man knew about his high school and its attendees.

"Luxord… sir… I have talked much he found himself explaining, though he frowned at what he was saying truly. He usually _did **not**_ talk much about anything, let alone _himself_, "but what of you?"

Now was his chance at gaining some information on the stoic blonde.

* * *

Or apparently not. 

The methodically hushed boy felt slightly angered hours later after two bowls of ripe strawberries, one handful of popcorn, and a strawberry-chocolate fruit smoothie—plus a couple of hours. He unpleasantly felt disappointed in his abilities also, for throughout the whole time he and the _still _enigmatic man had talked, the young teen had spoken more about himself than he had ever told anyone who wasn't his 'friend', while Luxord had only briefly mentioned either in the present or in the past working for the No Hearts Corporation. He also alluded towards gambling terms and quotes from the "_Wise King_" as he spoke, but other than that, Zexion hadn't learned _anything_ about him, while the other had learned almost **everything **about him. The young teen had even mentioned once being an _orphan_!

How was he able to speak so freely to this stranger? To speak so freely to him than he had even been speaking to Roxas earlier that week? Zexion silently cursed himself as Luxord began to talk once more, this time about different strategies to playing sudoku. But sudoku did not matter at the time. The _man_ talking about sudoku _mattered_. It had been hours but—

Blinking, Zexion's thoughts shrivelled as both his digital watch and his cell phone went off at that moment, an annoying, repetitive beeping from the digital, blaring Japanese rock vocals from the cell. A slight blush appearing from embarrassment, Zexion terminated both alarms as quickly as they had gone off, and hastily stole a glance at the time as he put them back where they belonged, then looked up in surprise to see curious, unwavering, icy, rainforest-blue eyes.

"Uh… um, I'm—I'm s-sorry, Mister Luxord," Zexion began in a jumble of words as he began to gather his bags in a rush, "but—it's late, _really _late—and, and I need to go." Zexion then nodded his head quickly towards his cell phone to prove his point, the phone that was now smiling back malevolently with the current time, 7:02 P.M., then glanced in the direction of the door.

…Only to see tendrils of water splashing down its glass and the window beside the table joining in merrily.

He was going to be wet. Very, very, really super soaked. Wet, extremely cold, and most definitely punished once he arrived home for being late once more.

Biting back a string-full of curses, he swiftly gathered up his bags in his hands, uttered a quick thankful remark to Luxord (for he had paid for all his meals and book no matter how much the teen had protested), and made way towards the door.

—but never made it past the manila table, as a hand firmly encircled his thin wrist and stopped him completely in his tracks.

"Sir Zexion," Luxord began in a deep yet firm tone, "I have an umbrella. Would you care to borrow it?" He watched as Luxord gestured with his free hand towards the large black mass of cloth resting up at the table's end near the distraught looking window.

Borrow the stranger's umbrella, hmm?

_But that would mean that I would have to meet him once more to return it…_

"I c-couldn't possibly borrow… it… sir…" Zexion felt himself protesting, while his wrist _began_ protesting, as he tried subtly to free it. Blinking, teal eyes realized the vain struggle the boy had been attempting, so he let of the grasp almost immediately, and gave a soft apology only after stealing a light chuckle.

Standing abruptly, then, and giving the silver-haired child one more smile, he spoke a suggestion that approved of no protests,

"Then let it be the pleasure of mine to escort you home, dear _child_. Besides, you would not with to ruin your purchases, nor catch a cold."

_W-what?! _

Zexion opened his mouth to reply, but a reply he could not conjure.

* * *

7:22 P.M. 

Zexion scowled at his pocket watch as he checked the time, believing truly that if he made it fear him from the look, then time would go back at least forty minutes and would be curfew. For it took at _least_ a half hour for him to get home on wet, rainy days, twenty minutes on a normal. Today was rainy. It also didn't help that it was quite windy outside and that he had many plastic bags…

…some of which were being hauled along by Luxord.

Luxord… Blush familiar for the uncountable time that day crept onto Zexion's chilled face as she felt the man's eyes watching him intently. Quite hastily, Zexion then stuffed his pocket watch back into the depths of his deep pocket, hoping that Luxord didn't _notice_ his many watches, and turned his eyes towards the saturated ground beneath his feet.

He could _feel_ the man radiating close to _him_ as they walked along the wet path in silence. Luxord, and somewhat unwantingly, the platinum-blonde had insisted on carrying some of the teen's bags, and thusly caused a gap between the two of them.

Zexion sighed, as his thoughts once again weren't at rest. But this time he let them flow, letting the uneasy thoughts wash in gentle tide across his subconscious. He'd deal with them later, for right now he had more important problems like…

Like the blonde man, strolling along beside him. Still a complete stranger in his opinion, Zexion did **not** wish for the man to find out where he lived. But he was being _walked_ home, so usually the escort to find out exactly where the escort's destination were at.

Zexion **couldn't** have _that_.

Thinking in rash manners in such haste, the boy decided that he was indeed in the end either going to have to borrow the umbrella or become completely drenched. Picking the latter option, Zexion planned to stop himself and the other male at the next block, his house being two blocks from where they currently were. That way, he wouldn't have to worry about _possibilities_ that even now he was trying hard to not think about.

Now how to tell the light blonde man without sounding suspicious?

"U-um, Mister Luxord," he felt himself awkwardly begin, "can you stop up here at this stop sign? A-and I would appreciate my bags back please, if you do not mind." Well, that didn't sound suspicious, nor nervous at all. Nope, not. one. bit.

"I take it that your home is a bit further though?" he then heard the man speak. Zexion cringed inwardly as the familiarity in how that had been spoken told him that it was rhetorical. Or maybe he was misjudging it and he could have been able to have given an answer to the question.

It was left at that, though, as, as asked, Luxord stopped at the corner and handed the boy his bags. Zexion, feeling somewhat guilty, but about _what_ he did not know, thanked him softly, and looked up at his face one last time to give him proper respect, only to collide with withdrawn, shielded, slightly-guarded, witch-ocean green pools. Suppressing the urge to falter, midnight hues held the eye contact and moment by keeping silent and not breaking the gaze, to make up for the earlier challenge of the same that had been issued that day. Luxord was the first to break the look this time, his eyes gliding in a somewhat morbid manner to which Zexion would be heading.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Sir Ienzo," he spoke in a low, authoritative manner as Zexion turned to leave.

An odd, unknown feeling swarmed through him then, as he nodded in reply, then stepped out from underneath the umbrella, and dashed off suddenly, trying not to dwell on the change if what name the man had addressed him with. Glancing at the cream-coloured man as he rounded the corner, his heart gave a painful jolt at what he saw.

Seaweed-stained blue eyes burning bright through the fogging, forthcoming night.

7:40 P.M.

-to be continued-

_First off, I apologize for taking so long to update! Hopefully (not making any promises now) Chapter Four will be up before my birthday (which is coming up in a few months)! xD_

_Um… I have a few addendums that explain some things that need brief explanation from the chapter and for chapters yet to come._

**Addendum 01:** All real things mentioned in this fanfic © their original creator.

**Addendum 02:** The last names "Hotoka," "Masaki" and "Harada" © Slashapalooza.

**Addendum 03:** I apologize if anyone (especially Zexion) seemed out of character.

**Addendum 04:** I will try my hardest not to degrade or bash any character without reason. I feel that only then can you dislike a character, but without reason behind your actions, you are still bad in my opinion.

**Addendum 05:** A lot of past times and characterization displayed in KH I, KH COM, and KH II are intentionally and unintentionally swapped in this story. An example of this is Saïx being a scientist instead of Vexen.

**Addendum 06:** Fuujin and the mention of Lulu and Irvine are only the start of a stream of characters that make appearances in this fic. Each character mentioned will be mentioned for a reason, though, and have some importance to Zexion.

_One side note, can anyone guess what Luxord's last name means? The meaning behind it was completely unintentional, so if you guess right, I'll give out some sort of prize. Or something. And explain the funny (to me, at least) story behind the naming. xD_

_Links to horrible fanart for WB drawn by me are in my profile._


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